St Michael's VA Junior School

St Michael’s VA Junior School continues to perform well, maintaining its good status. Pupils feel happy, safe, and well cared for, with supportive staff and minimal bullying reported. They enjoy learning from a broad curriculum, presenting their work with pride, and demonstrating respect and politeness towards each other and adults. The school has made improvements in addressing past weaknesses in writing and grammar, ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs, are supported effectively in their learning outcomes. Positive relationships and a warm culture are evident throughout the school community.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and cared for.
• Strong relationships between staff and students.
• Well-designed play areas that encourage adventurous play.
• Ambitious and thoughtfully planned curriculum.
• Effective targeted support for weak readers.
• High-quality opportunities for personal development and leadership.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent opportunities for pupils to master smaller knowledge components before advancing.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Michael's VA Junior School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.2% of pupils at St Michael's VA Junior School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Michael's VA Junior School had 21.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 26.0% of pupils at St Michael's VA Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Michael's VA Junior School received £6,893 and spent £6,974 for each of its 617 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £130,000 (£211 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). This school files a single return with the other schools in its federation, so the figures are for the whole federation.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

What is St Michael's VA Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Michael's VA Junior School is Good, from an inspection in April 2023.

When was St Michael's VA Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Michael's VA Junior School was last inspected in April 2023.

How many pupils does St Michael's VA Junior School have?

St Michael's VA Junior School has 423 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Michael's VA Junior School cover?

St Michael's VA Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are St Michael's VA Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Michael's VA Junior School?

St Michael's VA Junior School is at Astley Road, Chapel Break, Bowthorpe, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 9LA.